Hello everyone,
We have purchased a small cottage from the 1930s, which we are now renovating and planning to extend with an addition. Here is the initial version of our preliminary planning:
The existing house (yellow) will largely be preserved in its original condition and upgraded for energy efficiency. On the ground floor, a non-load-bearing wall will be moved and a load-bearing wall removed (existing condition supplement). The upper floor is currently one large room; this will be divided into two rooms. The rooms in the existing house will serve as children’s rooms, guest rooms, and a study – and a small guest bathroom will be added. The staircase will be rebuilt in the same location as a closed staircase (built-in closets/wardrobe under the stairs).
The extension will include a living area, kitchen, and utility/housekeeping room on the ground floor. The upper floor will contain a bathroom and bedroom.
Baseline:
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size approximately 650 m² (7000 sq ft)
No slope
Number of floors: existing house one full story, roof without knee walls
Roof style: gable roof / flat roof on a single-story extension
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: modern, gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement (groundwater at 1.0 m (3.3 ft))
Number of occupants, ages (2 adults, 2 children)
Space needs on ground and upper floors (large living room, small quiet retreat for reading/resting)
Office: family use
Open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace
Garage available
House design
(What we don’t like or are unsure about)
The window arrangement on the north side looks somewhat irregular.
The hallways are quite large, nearly 18 m² (190 sq ft).
The hallway on the upper floor may be quite dark?
Are the children’s rooms perhaps too small? (despite the floor area of about 18 m² (190 sq ft))
Is the kitchen too small? (storage space)
The fireplace would look nicer in the middle of the living room, but then the chimney becomes problematic.
The bathroom windows are 2.8 m (9 ft) high and face north, which might prevent the bathroom from warming up properly.
The windows in the ground-floor living room and the front door are 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) high (rough opening), as oriented to the original house – maybe too low?
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump / ground-source heat pump / controlled ventilation with heat recovery.
If you had to give up certain details/features, which ones:
- Could give up: everything slightly smaller if necessary.
- Cannot give up: A basement would be nice but isn’t financially feasible.
A dormer instead of roof windows in the bathroom would also be nice, but it is unclear whether the authorities will approve it.
Criticism and suggestions are welcome, perhaps some aspects have been overlooked or will prove impractical.
Maybe the layout could be improved by rearranging some walls?
Best regards
We have purchased a small cottage from the 1930s, which we are now renovating and planning to extend with an addition. Here is the initial version of our preliminary planning:
The existing house (yellow) will largely be preserved in its original condition and upgraded for energy efficiency. On the ground floor, a non-load-bearing wall will be moved and a load-bearing wall removed (existing condition supplement). The upper floor is currently one large room; this will be divided into two rooms. The rooms in the existing house will serve as children’s rooms, guest rooms, and a study – and a small guest bathroom will be added. The staircase will be rebuilt in the same location as a closed staircase (built-in closets/wardrobe under the stairs).
The extension will include a living area, kitchen, and utility/housekeeping room on the ground floor. The upper floor will contain a bathroom and bedroom.
Baseline:
Development plan/restrictions
Plot size approximately 650 m² (7000 sq ft)
No slope
Number of floors: existing house one full story, roof without knee walls
Roof style: gable roof / flat roof on a single-story extension
Client requirements
Style, roof shape, building type: modern, gable roof
Basement, floors: no basement (groundwater at 1.0 m (3.3 ft))
Number of occupants, ages (2 adults, 2 children)
Space needs on ground and upper floors (large living room, small quiet retreat for reading/resting)
Office: family use
Open kitchen
Number of dining seats: 8
Fireplace
Garage available
House design
(What we don’t like or are unsure about)
The window arrangement on the north side looks somewhat irregular.
The hallways are quite large, nearly 18 m² (190 sq ft).
The hallway on the upper floor may be quite dark?
Are the children’s rooms perhaps too small? (despite the floor area of about 18 m² (190 sq ft))
Is the kitchen too small? (storage space)
The fireplace would look nicer in the middle of the living room, but then the chimney becomes problematic.
The bathroom windows are 2.8 m (9 ft) high and face north, which might prevent the bathroom from warming up properly.
The windows in the ground-floor living room and the front door are 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) high (rough opening), as oriented to the original house – maybe too low?
Preferred heating technology: air-to-water heat pump / ground-source heat pump / controlled ventilation with heat recovery.
If you had to give up certain details/features, which ones:
- Could give up: everything slightly smaller if necessary.
- Cannot give up: A basement would be nice but isn’t financially feasible.
A dormer instead of roof windows in the bathroom would also be nice, but it is unclear whether the authorities will approve it.
Criticism and suggestions are welcome, perhaps some aspects have been overlooked or will prove impractical.
Maybe the layout could be improved by rearranging some walls?
Best regards
I found the legend... when you zoom in to 150%, quite a bit gets lost 😉
Yes, for one thing: I always find it fascinating what you can do with a small residential house. I also like your idea of experimenting with different facades. Is the old house going to be clad in wood and the new one in plaster/render?
I also really like the concepts – it definitely looks like an architect was involved?
However, I don’t see the bathroom in the right place.
I started to notice the bathtub in the knee wall area is under one meter (3 feet 3 inches) high. You won’t be happy with that. Then the toilet is below the 2-meter (6 feet 7 inches) height limit, which is also borderline. The bathroom is quite large in terms of area but not very useful because of the sloped ceiling, and the separate toilet is very small... 🙁 ... not really ideal for four people.
An alternative idea would be to use the very low knee wall space for built-in cupboards, placing a walk-in closet in this northeast area by installing cabinets along the slope up to 1.80 / 2.00 meters (5 feet 11 inches / 6 feet 7 inches) high (these would of course be deeper towards the bottom to provide storage space for boxes and seasonal items). The bedroom would be narrower so that the entire eastern part of the house is used for the bedroom and dressing area.
The remaining space could then be used for a children’s and parents’ bathroom (with shower and bathtub). Or you could take the “old” dressing room, enlarging it as the main bathroom. A separate toilet could be planned above the guest WC.
With my version, the plumbing would lie on the south side. However, I haven’t really looked at the ground floor properly yet up to that point...
From a first glance, I also wouldn’t place the living room as a walkthrough space here, but rather the kitchen 🙂 I would include the small extension as part of the kitchen, creating a nice cooking island as a room divider, and then arrange the dining and living areas towards the back. The fireplace could be placed in the middle.
- Apart from my idea, some door swings are incorrect and should be reconsidered.
- The sloped ceilings take up a lot of space, so I would move the children’s rooms down to the lower floor from about the age of six.
Best regards,
Yvonne
Yes, for one thing: I always find it fascinating what you can do with a small residential house. I also like your idea of experimenting with different facades. Is the old house going to be clad in wood and the new one in plaster/render?
I also really like the concepts – it definitely looks like an architect was involved?
However, I don’t see the bathroom in the right place.
I started to notice the bathtub in the knee wall area is under one meter (3 feet 3 inches) high. You won’t be happy with that. Then the toilet is below the 2-meter (6 feet 7 inches) height limit, which is also borderline. The bathroom is quite large in terms of area but not very useful because of the sloped ceiling, and the separate toilet is very small... 🙁 ... not really ideal for four people.
An alternative idea would be to use the very low knee wall space for built-in cupboards, placing a walk-in closet in this northeast area by installing cabinets along the slope up to 1.80 / 2.00 meters (5 feet 11 inches / 6 feet 7 inches) high (these would of course be deeper towards the bottom to provide storage space for boxes and seasonal items). The bedroom would be narrower so that the entire eastern part of the house is used for the bedroom and dressing area.
The remaining space could then be used for a children’s and parents’ bathroom (with shower and bathtub). Or you could take the “old” dressing room, enlarging it as the main bathroom. A separate toilet could be planned above the guest WC.
With my version, the plumbing would lie on the south side. However, I haven’t really looked at the ground floor properly yet up to that point...
From a first glance, I also wouldn’t place the living room as a walkthrough space here, but rather the kitchen 🙂 I would include the small extension as part of the kitchen, creating a nice cooking island as a room divider, and then arrange the dining and living areas towards the back. The fireplace could be placed in the middle.
- Apart from my idea, some door swings are incorrect and should be reconsidered.
- The sloped ceilings take up a lot of space, so I would move the children’s rooms down to the lower floor from about the age of six.
Best regards,
Yvonne
Hello Yvonne,
Thank you very much in advance for your thoughts.
I will work my way through from top to bottom:
The children are still very young, kindergarten age and younger.
Exactly, the old house will get a timber-clad insulated facade, and the new building will have a white plaster finish. Only the smaller southern part will also have timber cladding as a contrast.
You are absolutely right about the bathtub; the initial sketch on paper included a wide dormer, but that might be an issue for the building permit/planning permission. The consequences of the missing dormer were not considered further. Your idea sounds good, but I can’t imagine how it could be done without the bathroom becoming a pass-through room. Maybe you could make a small sketch for me here?
The problem then, as you already said, is that the water supply and drainage would be spread throughout the entire house. My wife really wants the small extension to be a kind of bright little library with a big reading chair; that is very important to her, and I don’t see how else it could be arranged if the kitchen ends up there.
Apart from that, I like the idea of moving the kitchen forward; we would need to check if that is possible. The technical aspect also played a role, since the bathrooms, kitchen, and utility room would be located as a group.
Which door swings do you mean? A few are indeed a bit tight, and the one in the northwest room downstairs swings the wrong way.
Best regards
Thank you very much in advance for your thoughts.
I will work my way through from top to bottom:
The children are still very young, kindergarten age and younger.
Exactly, the old house will get a timber-clad insulated facade, and the new building will have a white plaster finish. Only the smaller southern part will also have timber cladding as a contrast.
You are absolutely right about the bathtub; the initial sketch on paper included a wide dormer, but that might be an issue for the building permit/planning permission. The consequences of the missing dormer were not considered further. Your idea sounds good, but I can’t imagine how it could be done without the bathroom becoming a pass-through room. Maybe you could make a small sketch for me here?
The problem then, as you already said, is that the water supply and drainage would be spread throughout the entire house. My wife really wants the small extension to be a kind of bright little library with a big reading chair; that is very important to her, and I don’t see how else it could be arranged if the kitchen ends up there.
Apart from that, I like the idea of moving the kitchen forward; we would need to check if that is possible. The technical aspect also played a role, since the bathrooms, kitchen, and utility room would be located as a group.
Which door swings do you mean? A few are indeed a bit tight, and the one in the northwest room downstairs swings the wrong way.
Best regards
Here I am again, this time a bit frustrated.
I wasn’t able to make it work. Unfortunately, the 2-meter (6.6 feet) lines define the passage from the old building to the new one. This leaves no adequate space for the bathroom. By the way, the planned children's rooms are roughly 7 and 9 square meters (75 and 97 square feet).
I think that’s not enough. I also just noticed that the bathtub doesn’t even fit under the sloped ceiling in terms of height.
Was there even an architect involved?
Are all the ceiling heights fully optimized, or are there possibilities to redesign the new building? The knee wall wouldn’t make you happy.
I wasn’t able to make it work. Unfortunately, the 2-meter (6.6 feet) lines define the passage from the old building to the new one. This leaves no adequate space for the bathroom. By the way, the planned children's rooms are roughly 7 and 9 square meters (75 and 97 square feet).
I think that’s not enough. I also just noticed that the bathtub doesn’t even fit under the sloped ceiling in terms of height.
Was there even an architect involved?
Are all the ceiling heights fully optimized, or are there possibilities to redesign the new building? The knee wall wouldn’t make you happy.
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